Triwiz Tournament Chapter One of Book
by Jannie-goes-to-distance
Summary: This is my entry for a contest being held at my Harry Potter Neopets Guild, it is for task three of our own Triwizard Tournament. I wrote my take on Chapter One of book seven, feel free to read, but at your own risk, first time fic writer here :p.


Things were grim for Harry on the summer before seventh year, or at least, more terrible than they usually were. Adding to his increasingly thinning patience towards the Dursleys and their need to treat him like some sort of servant was his ever growing impatience.

The coal haired boy was currently sitting on his small bed in Dudley's former second bedroom thinking about how much longer he could stand this. He didn't _want_ to be cooped up in Privet Drive, he wanted to break free from the protection of others and do what he could to end the war.

He didn't want the killings and attacks to last any longer, he wanted to make progress in finding and the Horcruxes, and once and for all be able to face Voldemort, with an actual chance of defeating him on his own, not because of 'dumb luck'.

Just thinking about his 'dumb luck' made him remember Professor McGonagall; she was the one who called it that when he and Ron saved Hermione from the Troll in first year. All of these memories just made him dwell on Hogwarts, his friends, and how it was possible that he would not see them for a very long time.

Harry wasn't planning on returning to the old castle. He would be hunting down Horcruxes while many of his friends took their NEWTS and attended their last year at Hogwarts.

"TAP" "TAP" The noise startled Harry out of his thoughts.

For a moment Harry thought that Hedwig had managed to get herself out of the cage that the Dursleys forced her to stay in that summer, but when he took a closer look out the window, he saw not his snowy owl, but a tawny one with a roll of parchment tied to one of its legs.

Harry did not recognize this owl, and so said to himself, "Who on Earth would be writing to me?"

The boy- no, young man, opened the window, and as soon as this happened the mysterious bird flew into his room without waiting for permission and sat on Harry's bed, impatiently sticking out it's burdened leg.

Harry jogged over to where it was and hesitantly untied the parchment and took it in his hands. The owl, who obviously didn't care much for manners (what animal does anyway?), took off as soon as his task of getting the letter to Harry was completed. Harry opened the letter and read;

_Potter,_

_Meet me outside the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow at 2am. _

_It's important that no one sees us. All you need to know is _

_that this may just be the chance that could help _

_you immensely in your 'search' if taken…_

_I'm risking a lot doing this, it might be hard to trust me,_

_but think about what you might gain._

_Signed,_

_You'll see who_

"WHAT!"

"Boy! Do I need to come up there and shut you up myself!", came the angry voice of Vernon Dursley responding to the loud noise.

"No uncle, just, ran into the wall!", Harry screamed back hastily.

"Wait, what….oh, oh well," was all that the boy could say to himself after not exactly thinking his response through.

Harry thought about the letter over and over. He played every possibility in his mind like a movie, from being caught by Death Eaters trying to trick him, to meeting Voldemort himself in front of the Leaky Cauldron. He came to a conclusion though, if Voldemort, or someone else trying to hurt him had known where he lived he would have gotten these kinds of letters trying to trick him before, and wouldn't the house that he was said to be so safe in have some sort of charms or shields that would have stopped those kinds of things in the first place? He wasn't sure, but something told him that he should at least give this a chance.

Harry couldn't stay still that whole day, and when night fell over the rooftops of Privet Drive, he made up his mind about something. Even if the person who was supposed to help turned up to be a phony, he would still not come back to Number four, he had to get a head start on finding those Horcruxes one way or another, so he packed up what little belongings he had in his trunk, got Hedwig's cage (with her inside) and decided to head over to the Leaky Cauldron.

It wasn't too hard sneaking out unnoticed by the Dursleys. They were snoring happily in their beds while Harry climbed out his bar less window and jumped down only to be cushioned by some bushes.

Harry walked and walked until he distanced himself from the houses of Privet Drive. When Harry was sure that no muggles could see him, he pulled out his wand from his trunk and stuck it out. He sat down on the pavement and waited a few moments.

"SCREEEH!"

In front of Harry a purple Double Decker bus, also known as The Knight Bus came to a stop. Harry got up just as the doors opened. "Welcome to The Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard-"Harry quickly scuffled inside ignoring the uniform greeting and told the driver exactly where he wanted to go.

In no time Harry felt himself being pushed forward by the force of the bus's stop. He had reached his destination.

Harry waited in front of the Leaky Cauldron for what seemed like hours, until he finally saw a cloaked figure coming towards him. The person had his hood pulled over his head, so Harry couldn't see exactly who the character was. The hooded figure stopped in front of him, and Harry felt himself getting exceedingly nervous.

"Potter. I'm glad to see that you had the sense to come," the voice of a man came out of the human.

Wait….he recognized that voice. He had heard that voice, or better yet, the owner of the voice criticize him at every possible moment while he suffered through Potions classes at Hogwarts.

"Snape!" Harry exclaimed, shocked and outraged.

"Yes, yes, Potter, we all know my name. Now, I believe that I have some explaining to do-

"Explaining! Oh, there is no need, I SAW YOU MURDER PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE, "Harry interrupted Snape, nearly on the verge of angry tears.

"Potter! Would you please keep it down? Now, as I was saying. Things aren't as they seem. I would have never, and believe me when I say this, ever murdered Professor Dumbledore if he hadn't asked me to himself," Snape calmly explained.

"What! No one is that much of a fool Snape. How can you tell me, that Dumbledore asked to be killed! Harry exclaimed.

"Please, Mr. Potter, keep the outbursts for when I'm finished. Before the last school year started I was visited by some…friends, and put into a tricky position that I couldn't get myself out of. I of course informed the Headmaster. My revelation, and possibly some other reasons he only knew, led him to believe that his life might be put into mortal danger that same year. He made me promise, that if I was put into the situation of choosing between his life, and my own, that I would choose to spare mine. He believed that his time was coming, and that I could still serve a purpose in helping the light win this war.

"Now, I know that this is a hard thing to do considering what has happened, but will you trust me Potter? For Dumbledore, so that his death was not in vain," Severus finished.

Harry had his mouth hanging open by the end of this. If he was confused before, it had been nothing compared this. Harry didn't know what to believe. But then he thought about 'what he had to gain' like Snape had stated in his letter. Severus's aid would help him a huge deal, after all, who better than someone close to Voldemort himself , that knew how the mad man thought, to assist Harry in finding Voldemort's Horcruxes?

Harry then thought about all of the times that Snape had saved his skin, and how deeply Dumbledore had seemed to trust him.

"I…I…fine. I will put my trust in you, but if you betray it, so help me-

"I get the point Potter," Snape interrupted.

" Well, now, regarding my 'helpful' information. What if I told you, that the initials that you found when you retrieved the fake locket/Horcrux, and don't ask how I know this, stood for Regulus A. Black? Would this spark the beginnings of an idea in your head Potter?", Severus concluded.

"What? You mean, that the person to who's those initials belonged to was Sirius's brother? But, that would mean, that necklace that I saw while cleaning the House of Black…" Harry drifted off.

"Exactly. Now, Potter, I'll leave it up to you to make good use of this information. Continue where Dumbledore left off if you catch my drift. I will contact you when I have more information, for now, good luck; you're going to need it if you plan on saving the Wizarding world from the Dark Lord Mr. Potter," with this Snape turned around to leave, but not before hearing Harry utter a thank you at his retreating back.

His father had been wrong all along; no matter how sour or rough around the edges Severus Snape was, he was not an evil person. Harry still had not completely forgiven him for killing the man that had been like a grandfather to him, but at least Harry understood the man's reasoning. The mean, hook-nosed ex-Professor that used to make his life miserable was now giving Harry the push that he needed towards the long and bumpy road to defeating Voldemort and saving countless of lives.


End file.
